North America

15 Oct 2021; MEMO: Democracy in Tunisia is in danger following a series of executive orders issued by President Kais Saied, the Congress Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and Global Counterterrorism said yesterday.

This came during a virtual hearing titled "Tunisia: Examining the State of Democracy and Next Steps for U.S. Policy" held with the participation of a number of committee members and political experts.

15 Oct 2021; MEMO: Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Majid Takht Ravanchi warned of Israel's growing threats against his country's nuclear programme, reiterating that the threats should be condemned as a violation of international laws.

15 Oct 2021; MEMO: Israeli authorities have stopped dozens of Jewish families of the Lev Tahor ultra-Orthodox sect from fleeing to Iran where they had applied for asylum.

"Israel and the U.S. are working to prevent members of an extremist ultra-Orthodox sect from moving to Iran, amid fears they could be used as a bargaining chip by Tehran," the Times of Israel newspaper reported, noting that the group; which is anti-Zionist, applied for political asylum in 2018.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hoping to recover a lost anchor chain, a work boat dragged a grappling hook along the seabed near an oil platform off the Southern California coast. But it hooked something else -- a pipeline carrying crude oil from the towering rig to shore.

Once snagged, the 197-foot (60-meter) boat dragged the pipeline until it snapped on one of the drilling platform’s legs. The gushing oil created a slick that ran for miles along the Ventura County coast northwest of Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A commission tasked with studying potential changes to the Supreme Court has released a first look at its review, a draft report that is cautious in discussing proposals for expanding the court but also speaks approvingly of term limits for justices.

DALLAS (AP) — A former Boeing pilot was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on charges of deceiving safety regulators about the 737 Max jetliner, which was later involved in two deadly crashes.

The indictment charges Mark A. Forkner with giving the Federal Aviation Administration false and incomplete information about an automated flight-control system that played a role in the crashes, which killed 346 people.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law a bill raising the nation’s debt limit until early December, delaying the prospect of an unprecedented federal default that would cause economic disaster.

The House passed the $480 billion increase in the country’s borrowing ceiling on Tuesday, after the Senate approved it on a party-line vote last week. The eventual approval came after a protracted standoff with Senate Republicans, who derailed initial Democratic efforts with filibusters, delays that require 60 votes to halt.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A last-minute court hearing is set Friday in Florida for Nikolas Cruz, the man police said has confessed to the 2018 massacre of 17 people at a suburban high school.

The hearing in Broward County Circuit Court was scheduled abruptly Thursday and does not describe the purpose. But WSVN-TV reported without citing sources by name that Cruz would plead guilty to all 17 murder counts against him. Cruz’s attorneys did not respond to calls, texts and emails from The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has won back his full pension as part of a settlement of his lawsuit arising from his firing during the Trump administration more than three years ago, his lawyers announced Thursday.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — New York real estate heir Robert Durst was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without chance of parole for the murder of his best friend more that two decades ago.

Durst, 78, was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court last month of first-degree murder for shooting Susan Berman point-blank in the back of the head at her home in December 2000.